A/N: I lied. There shall only be 4 parts to this in total because I'm a lazy bum and it's three days til Christmas. The next one shall be Scorpius and Rose, though :)
Happy Holidays, everybody :)
It was about 20 minutes into his walk to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade that Ron Weasley started to hate whoever put the anti-apparatation charm on the castle.
All he wanted to do was see Hermione, damnit. Who ..apparently was too busy studying for her NEWTs to visit her boyfriend and her boyfriend's family. And Harry, he added as an afterthought.
Seriously, didn't that girl ever take a break from studying?
Probably not, and that was one of the quirks that made him love her.
After another few minutes of walking (all the Auror training should have made him be able to walk for more than 20 minutes without wheezing, but no), Ron finally reached the castle of his adolescence. He ambled up to the gate and pulled his Auror Badge up to the sensor, letting the sensor analyze it to see if it was legitimate. Aurors were allowed into Hogwarts whenever they wanted to, as long as most of the time it was for work and they didn't abuse their privileges too much.
The key words in that sentence were too and much. Ron laughed with sudden cheer as the gate swung open and admitted him into the grounds. He was going to see Hermione. He missed her, with her bushy and mostly uncontrollable hair and the smell of ink that almost always swirled around her. He missed the way she laughed and the way she said, "Honestly, Ron," whenever he said anything stupid.
Ginny had told him the password, surprisingly free of cost. Of course, that might have had to do with the fact that he had mentioned that he wouldn't be there for a solid hour or two.
Ron was already scarred for life after walking in on his best mate snogging his sister. He didn't want to know where Harry's hands went, for Merlin's sake!
Ron passed the Great Hall, smiling and looking in on it and recalling fond memories of Christmases past, and the twins frogmarching Percy around in his Weasley jumper. His smile turned a bit sadder at the thought of Fred but he put it out of his mind as Peeved zoomed by cackling parodies of Christmas carols.
"Silent night, HOLY FIGHTS
Glory sight, you're not slight
Round yon non-Virgin Mother and Child
HOLY the kid's so red and fat!"
Someone overdosed on the eggnog, Ron thought amusedly as he grew nearer and nearer to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Didn't you already graduate?" The Fat Lady asked, her eyes narrowing as Ron grew closer to her.
"Yeah," He responded, flashing his badge at her. "I'm just visiting. The password is Mistletoe, right?"
The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and smiled in a rare display of emotion. "She's inside," She whispered slyly as the portrait hole swung open.
In the light of the roaring fireplace, Hermione was sitting by herself, a large tome lying open on the table beside her and copying out notes with her other hand in flowering cursive.
Ron stepped forwards until he was just within the light of the fire. "Busy at work, huh?" He asked softly, smiling gently at her.
Hermione jumped a bit, the quill in her hand blotting the parchment in her lap. She briskly siphoned the extra ink off her paper and looked around.
Her reaction was almost comical. Her eyes widened to almost unholy lengths and she furiously blinked and rubbed her hands over her eyes, obviously thinking that Ron was a hallucination brought on by over studying.
When his image didn't dispel, she tentatively whispered, "Ron?"
Ron laughed heartily and stepped farther into the light. "No, it's Goyle," He said sarcastically, smiling crookedly at her. "Can't you tell from the ape-like walk I'm using?"
Hermione froze for a second before a wide smile spread across her cheeks and a laugh burst out of her coral lips, the staccato burst of sound making Ron smile back at her, fresh energy present in his soul. She rose shakily, slowly as if still not sure if this was all a dream and she had fell asleep on her textbook once again. She stood there for a painful moment or two as if still trying to decipher if he was real or not, but then she ran to him and almost tackled him to the floor and he didn't really mind any more.
"Ron!" She whispered joyfully, wrapping her thin arms around his neck and smiling happily. "You're here!"
Ron smiled back into her bushy hair and spun her around, making her squeal. He felt like he'd drunk too much Firewhiskey when he really hadn't, because he was with Hermione. Even though she thought he was a prat at times and he thought that she was annoying and work-centered, he loved her. And he was pretty sure she loved him too. "Yeah, I'm here. Merry Christmas, 'Mione."
:3
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Thank you and Merry Christmas! :D
~Alex aka dontforget2live :)
P.S. I also love reviews ;)
